Scottish Executive

Asthma

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to support research into the causes of asthma.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. The CSO is currently directly funding six research projects on asthma   costing £468,153, two of which are related to the causes of asthma. In addition, the Executive financially supports charity-funded and research council-funded asthma research by meeting the costs to the NHS of hosting such studies.

  The CSO would be willing to consider further quality research applications on the causes of asthma, which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

  Details on individual projects are available from the National Research Register (NRR), a copy of which is in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 17404).

Child Care

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many after-school care clubs have been established in the (a) Fife Council area and (b) (i) Dunfermline East, (ii) Dunfermline West, (iii) North East Fife, (iv) Kirkcaldy and (v) Central Fife constituency under the New Opportunities Fund.

Euan Robson: The New Opportunities Fund does not hold this information, as its Out of School Hours Childcare programme was aimed specifically at the creation of new child care places and not the creation of new child care clubs. The total number of places created to date in Fife from the Out of School Hours Childcare programme is 4,361.

Children

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children in the Clydesdale constituency have benefited from Sure Start Scotland.

Euan Robson: The Scottish Executive does not collect data at a constituency level on the number of children who have benefited from Sure Start Scotland. At a national level, a mapping exercise published in May 2002 found that Sure Start Scotland has offered support to over 15,000 additional children in 2000-01 and 6,000 parents. However, it is not possible to break this down to local authority level as raw data would not be of sufficient quality and completeness to support analysis or to allow conclusions to be drawn or comparisons with other data to be made. The figures cover a wide range of provision which vary in intensity from one-off interventions to sustained support over a long period.

Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Bill

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a reference group has been established to inform the consultation process for the draft Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Bill similar to the Mental Health Legislation Reference Group.

Peter Peacock: The Special Educational Needs Forum, made up of professionals, officials and parents, has helped to inform the development of the proposals in the draft bill on Additional Support for Learning.

  Engagement more broadly with children and young people, parents, education, health and social work professionals, as well as a range of representatives from the voluntary sector, has been integral to the development of the draft bill.

  Consultation on proposals to change the current system for assessing and recording special educational needs began back in May 2001, when the Scottish Executive asked for responses to the document Assessing our children’s educational needs: The Way Forward?. Three consultation events, attended by over 300 delegates from across Scotland, and four focus groups followed.

  Consultation on the draft bill itself began with its publication on 17 January 2003, when over 7,000 copies were distributed. Fourteen seminar events held in six towns and cities across Scotland, four focus groups and a formal written consultation followed.

  Consultation is an on-going process, and one in which a wide range of diverse views has been sought and very carefully considered. We intend to continue engaging with service users and providers in progressing the proposals of the draft bill and their subsequent implementation.

European Union

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made, or will make, and to whom, regarding the International Maritime Organisation and European Commission investigation into the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code; whether it will seek any deregulation in respect of this matter, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of reserved ports and shipping security issues. These include the International Maritime Organisation International Ship and Port Facility Security Code and related EU Maritime Security Regulation.

Fatal Accident Inquiry

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who is held accountable if the findings of a fatal accident inquiry are not implemented.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to ensure that the findings of sheriffs in fatal accident inquiries are implemented by the relevant bodies.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether findings of fatal accident inquiries have any status in law and, if not, what purpose such inquiries serve and what lessons can be learned from them.

Hugh Henry: The constitution and proceedings of fatal accident inquiries are governed by the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976. The findings of the sheriff at the conclusion of a fatal accident inquiry have the same status in law as findings of fact in any other civil proceedings. The sheriff does not determine legal liability for the death, either in the criminal or civil sense, and the determination cannot be founded upon in any other judicial proceedings.

  The purpose of a fatal accident inquiry is to determine certain specific matters relating to the death with which it is concerned, and certain of the circumstances surrounding that death. These matters include the time, place and causes of the death and of any accident resulting in the death, any reasonable precautions which might have prevented the death, and any defects in any system of working which contributed to the death or the accident which caused it.

  The findings of the inquiry should inform changes to working practices or safety procedures, where defects in these have contributed to the death. The responsibility for learning any lessons which come out of the inquiry, and for implementing its findings by remedying any defects in practices or procedures which the sheriff identifies, lie with those who have responsibility for managing the systems in question. Examples would include employers, in the case of a death at work, or hospital managers in the case of a death due to medical mishap. The Executive looks to the responsible bodies to have regard to, and to apply as appropriate, any recommendations for change which emerge from a fatal accident enquiry.

Hospitals

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when work will begin on the new Stonehouse Hospital facility.

Malcolm Chisholm: I understand construction work commenced on 30 June and completion is planned for April 2004.

Public Transport

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on the removal of bus services from vulnerable rural communities.

Nicol Stephen: The provision of local bus services is generally a matter for individual bus operators who use their commercial judgement as to the level and frequency of services to be provided. Beyond the commercial decisions of bus operators, it is the responsibility of the local transport authority to identify where there is a social need for a particular bus service and to make subsidy available, if it so chooses, so that appropriate additional services are provided.

  The Rural Public Passenger element of the Executive’s Rural Transport Fund has provided £19.7 million to local authorities (except the four main city councils) between 1998 and 2003 to help bus services in rural areas. A further £5.1 million will be made available in 2003-04.

  Local transport authorities also have powers under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 to introduce Quality Contracts – an arrangement allowing the authority to determine what bus services are provided in the area, the standards to which they are provided (including fares and frequencies) and additional facilities to be provided.

Racial Equality

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress each of its departments is making in developing and implementing racial equality action plans.

Ms Margaret Curran: All Scottish Executive departments drew up race equality action plans as part of Scottish Executive’s race equality scheme at the end of November 2002 under the terms of the Race Relations Act 1976 (Statutory Duties) (Scotland) Order 2002. Since then departments have been working to ensure effective implementation of their plans. The Scottish Executive will report on progress annually.

Racial Equality

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress each of its executive agencies is making in developing and implementing racial equality action plans.

Ms Margaret Curran: Scottish Executive agencies drew up race equality action plans at the end of November 2002 under the terms of the Race Relations Act 1976 (Statutory Duties) (Scotland) Order 2002. They did so either as part of their respective race equality schemes or under the Scottish Executive’s overarching scheme. Since then the Scottish Executive has been working closely with the agencies to ensure effective implementation of their plans. Executive agencies, together with the Scottish Executive, will report on progress annually.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what stage costing and planning for the redevelopment of Waverley Station have reached.

Nicol Stephen: A steering group chaired by the Strategic Rail Authority, and which includes the Executive, Network Rail and the City of Edinburgh Council, is overseeing the necessary preliminary work required to assess the options available.

Scottish Natural Heritage

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-888 by Allan Wilson on 25 June 2003, what the cost was of the Uist Wader Project.

Allan Wilson: The Uist Wader Project (UWP) was formed in April 2000 as a partnership of Scottish Natural Heritage, RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Executive. The costs incurred during the initial three-year period, ending in March 2003 were £261,000. This is well within the original published budget of £300,000.

  The project aims to stabilise and reverse the decline in wading bird populations and to evaluate practical and humane measures to reduce hedgehog numbers. The work of the project and its costs are therefore not confined to this year's hedgehog cull. Work undertaken as part of the project included research programmes, fencing and trapping trials, feasibility studies, educational material, employment of a full-time project officer and ancillary staff, together with related management, equipment, overhead and travel costs.

Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are eligible for ex-gratia payments from the Scottish Transport Group pension funds surplus; how many have not yet applied for such payments, and how much has now been paid in respect of such payments.

Nicol Stephen: The position as of 10 July 2003 is given in the table:

  

 Status
 Number
 Amount
(£ million)


 1. Received first and second 
  payments
 11,868
 121.23


 2. Received only first payment
 106
 0.14


 3. Second payments still to 
  be made in respect of 2 above
 25
 0.06


 4. Payments not yet claimed
 723
 4.67


 Total
 12,697
 126.1



  Notes:

  Status 2 includes 81 cases where only the minimum £300 payment was due together with those cases where processing of the second payment is still in progress.

  Status 4 comprises those cases where, following checks, it has been established that a valid recipient exists but where no claim has been received.

Social Inclusion

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place to work with the Department of Trade and Industry to introduce fairer credit schemes and protect consumers from excessively high interest rates.

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met Her Majesty’s Government to discuss tackling the increase in the number of people with debt problems in Scotland.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including the issue of debt and consumer protection. The Department of Trade and Industry is currently performing a comprehensive review of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, and the Scottish Executive is in contact to ensure Scottish aspects are considered.

Social Inclusion

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure the sustainability of debt advice and what funding allocations will be in place after 2004 to support and promote money advice schemes.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive has committed £500,000 annually to March 2005 to fund Money Advice Training Resources Information and Consulting Services (MATRICS) central support organisation. This compliments the additional £3 million per annum from 2002 committed to increase the provision of frontline money advice to help implement the Debt Arrangement and Attachment Act. In 2002-03 this resulted in an increase of 120 money advisers across Scotland.

Special Educational Needs

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact of co-ordinated support plans will be on children in special educational schools.

Peter Peacock: Co-ordinated support plans (CSPs), proposed in the draft Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Bill, aim to co-ordinate services for those with complex or multiple, enduring additional support needs, and to direct support towards specified and agreed learning outcomes. The CSP will be a working document, reviewed annually, available to all those involved in the support of the child, and appealable to a new independent tribunal. Consideration for a CSP will be based on individual children’s needs, rather than the types of school children attend.

Teacher Training

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether monies released by end-year flexibility are a sustainable source of funding for teacher training.

Peter Peacock: Teacher training is funded through annual grant in aid to the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC). This is included within our expenditure plans. End-year flexibility was used recently to increase the number of postgraduate students entering teacher training courses in primary education in 2003-04 in order to help meet our commitment to reduce class sizes in primary one to 25. These funds were additional to the annual grant in aid given to SHEFC.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what costs have been incurred in the employment of the acting Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.

Robert Brown MSP (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The acting Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, Mr William Spence QPM, was appointed by the SPCB on 31 January 2003. The costs including salary and associated expenses for work undertaken on investigating complaints against members during the period 31 January 2003 until 31 March 2003 was £6,059.79. Final costs for the period 1 April 2003 to the present are not yet available.